ELN TV

A month in my home country after three and a half years of not having seen my family.

It was supposed to bring a breath of fresh air. Except it didn’t (literally!).

As I walked out of Nepal’s international airport to see some of my family members waiting impatiently, I was struck by the thick air.

I didn’t make too much of it until I headed out into town the next day.

The grey haze over the valley, the thick cloud of pollution – I could see it engulf the road miles ahead as we drove around the city.

The culprit? Car emissions.

The streets of the nation’s sprawling capital is choked with traffic and its fumes. I couldn’t recall seeing people wearing masks the last time I was there – but it has now become an increasingly common sight as the thick cloud of pollution threatens to suffocate the capital.

I’d been reading and writing about air pollution in east Asian countries such as China and even European nations such as France and the UK itself but didn’t realise the extent of how bad it is in the Himalayan country until I saw it first-hand myself.